What is your main phone? And, what's the best you've owned?
The land line is pretty good but of course I can't use it very far from the house. I haven't got a working mobile phone right now.
Best mobile phone was a Samsung pay-as-you-go UK dumbphone. It lasted over a decade. All I had to do was go to an ATM and top it up with credit when it was low. It even worked in some parts of the USA. It had a feature for blocking any individual phone numbers I wanted to block. Since it stopped working I've not been able to find anything half as good. The last one (dumbphone) had a worse user interface, unstoppable texts from the provider advertising stupid deals, the ATMs had stopped doing the top-up thing, topping it up online wasn't easy, and the service provider had a rule that if I didn't use the phone at least once every 6 months for something that cost money, they'd permanently stop supporting that number. So after 8 months in the USA where it didn't work at all, it became completely useless. Most of my mobile phone problems come from bad service providers. I just don't need to use a mobile phone often enough to justify paying a monthly fee, but the pay-as-you-go contracts all seem to be rubbish.
Sometimes I feel tempted to get a smartphone, but apart from the expense there's the issue of being tracked. I don't know how to fix that.
I have had a Galaxy S20 for about 3 1/2 years, and just started using the fingerprint unlock feature which is amazing. Probably the best phone I've owned, but a very pedestrian choice, I suppose.
Redmi Note 10 5G,
I got it after I passed the college entrance examination, and it was advertised for its durability and high cost performance. It is indeed true, it is still useful after three years, as long as I don't rely on it to play games.
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I personally like smaller phones. Too bad they don't make many of them anymore.
My favourite phone so far has been iPhone 6s. I bought one for cheap in October 2022 and used it for about 6 months. No sideloading was a huge downside. I mainly like it for its size - which is a perfect size for a phone IMO. For that old of a phone the photos were decent. And another huge plus - it has a headphone jack.
Now I use Sony Xperia 10 V. I like its design and size, it has no camera cutout, also has a headphone jack (wich is a must for me even though I use ANC Bluetooth headphones most of the time), takes nice photos, and the lilac clolor is nice. Seriously, why don't more phones come in purple/lilac. I even recommended this phone to a friend who has similar requirements for a phone. Sony makes pretty good phones, but they have almost no marketing compared to juggernauts of the phone market like Samsung or Apple.
My last phone was a Blackview BV9800 I selected for its thermal camera.
It may have been clunky, but the battery lasted 5 days in a low service area.
Despite having a gorillaglass protector, the screen smashed after falling off the car seat ![]()
It now lives in the car for use in a bushfire for seeing through smoke.
I followed that with a Blackview BL8800, whose battery lasts a week. It has an IR blaster so I can use it as a remote.
These phones are really for ringing out. The only incoming calls are solar panel spam and scams.
An OPPO A31.
Only I can claim mine and still currently owned for the last 4 or so years now.
Brought it on my 25th birthday.
I pray that it will lasts for another 5 or 6 years. ![]()
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RetroGamer87
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Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,185
Location: Adelaide, Australia
My main phone is a Samsung Galaxy S23 and the best phone I've ever owned in the BlackBerry Passport.
BB10 OS s**ts all over iOS and Android. Why is it that the best phone with the best OS stops getting made? BB10 felt intuitive. Android is unintuitive and iOS feels like it was made for toddlers.
The BlackBerry even had a pause button. It was right in-between Vol+ and Vol-. Listening to some music and need to pause it? Just push the button! On modern phones you have to go out of the app you're in. Then go into the app that's playing the music. Then push the little circle on the touch screen.
The BlackBerries had amazingly good keyboards. I loved phones with physical keyboards. But then some cancerous little polyp named Steve Jobs decided that we're better off without keyboards. Because who needs tactile feedback when typing right? Hell, even the Mighty Macbook has only a few femtometers of key travel so it feels very similar to typing on a glass touchscreen.
Steve Jobs hated buttons almost as much as he hated eating a balanced diet. He hated buttons so much he wore a turtleneck just so he wouldn't have to button his shirt. He also decided we don't need the pause button either.
But I shouldn't try to insult or belittle Steve Jobs because even when he's dead he still has far more influence than I'll ever have while I'm alive. His terrible ideas will last for generations while I'll go on having no influence at all on how technology is designed.
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Version 4 (I kept retyping this because the back story gets me riled). This should have been a simple answer.
My primary phone is a "landline." I have phone that will take messages and can act as a speaker phone. I also have an old fashion wall phone. It is not that old fashion. It is push button, not rotary dial.
My secondary phone is an iPhone. It is the story of how I was forced (literally) to get an iPhone that gets me riled up. I use the iPhone for texting my sons, playing Sudoku, Pokémon Go, the timer for baking, and weather. I rarely use it as a phone. Very rarely.
Why iPhone and not an Android device? It was forced on me by the hospital.
One of the most important differences between landlines and cell phones is how they function during emergencies.
* A cell phone will be useful during emergencies that arise when you’re away from home, such as a car accident. Even if you choose to have a landline, you may prefer to purchase a prepaid cell phone, just in case.
* One of the drawbacks to cell phones is that your address is not visible to the emergency operator. At best, the cell phone will list your latitude and longitude, which are not always as easy to find as an address. Depending on the service you use, your telephone number might not be visible to the operator, either.
* What will happen if your power goes out? Your cell phone will continue to operate as long as it has a battery, but what if the power outage lasts for an extended period of time? One solution may be to check your area’s laws regarding telephone service. Some areas require telephone providers to allow residents to dial 911 from their landline even if the resident is not paying for service.
* Last but not least, consider who will be using the phone. Some parents believe that it’s easier to teach small children to dial 911 on a landline phone than on a cell phone. If you’re caring for an elderly person, consider whether they will find it easier to dial a cell phone or a landline phone in case of an emergency. You may want to get a special cell phone created specifically for senior citizens.
Follow up notes. I think the 911 has been addressed by some parts of the country.
The power outage advantage is no longer true for me, because the phone company did away with landlines. I use Internet phone service to supply my landline connection. Power goes out. Broadband modem shuts down. No phone. However, the iPhone provides some means of connecting to the Electric Company (not Sesame Street though).
* 911 is the U.S. emergency number. I believe some other countries use it too, but not everyone. I think Britain uses 999 (???) although if I'm to believe the I.T. Crowd, it is 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3. Love that episode. Actually I love all the episodes.
Version 4 is a third the length of versions 1 through 3, and it is not nearly as bitter.
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Double Retired
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Currently a Blackview BL8800. It has a battery that lasts a week in a poor service area and reasonable night vision.
My previous phone was a Blackview BV9800 which has a FLIR thermal camera I got for solar panel testing and for evacuation during bushfire.
Both these phones now have cracked screens and I never have the inclination to repair them.
My partner ordered me a new phone last week. A BL9300 which has a built in laser range finder I needed for pyrotechnic shows.
I'm sure it will also have Blackview's hallmark ridiculous battery longevity.
I am surprised it doesn't come with a bump converter so you can jump start a truck with it.
My previous phone was a Blackview BV9800 which has a FLIR thermal camera I got for solar panel testing and for evacuation during bushfire.
Both these phones now have cracked screens and I never have the inclination to repair them.
My partner ordered me a new phone last week. A BL9300 which has a built in laser range finder I needed for pyrotechnic shows.
I'm sure it will also have Blackview's hallmark ridiculous battery longevity.
I am surprised it doesn't come with a bump converter so you can jump start a truck with it.
How do you find that? Every non "big brand" phone I've had (CAT, oppo) I've found to be very clunky in terms of how well apps are integrated etc.
I've had Motorolas for years. Middle range sub £200, the Mrs tried the cheaper one and didn't get on. Relatively cheap, reliable and big batteries, what more do you need. If I drop it and break the screen or it just randomly breaks I can throw it away and not worry, if you buy something expensive like a samsung and it promptly packs up and then their CS just fobs you off with one lie after another you get mad...
PlatypusPerson211
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Joined: 22 Aug 2025
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Posts: 32
Location: United kingdom
It was a older , motorola flip phone, not made in 5 g or 4 g , but when it was still effective 3 g was able to pop the external antenna jack rubber plug. Seems most people never noticed it, but at a big box truck stop saw this antenna for sale thst worked in the mobilephone frequencies . And , My surprise on the end of its external cable, was a plug connector . That matched the plug in antenna jack on the back my old motorola . And it increased range , so much.
That in the worst possible locations, I always had a good signal.. Test in the middle of the desert outside of death valley, and in the deserted plains in the middle of Texas . Long before Elon,got there. The actual antenna had a little neodynium magnet molded into the base , and the little 5 inch thing ,stood perfectly upright on the roof of my late husbands pick up and my car. It was priceless. But then got me a android mobile many years later, But still keep a landline.. Possibly it is a voip from the phone company, And a old style answering machine.
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Hetzer
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Age: 19
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Location: Entropy(7) Mines - Silesia, Poland
Main? Google Pixel 8. Overpriced for it's specs, "Fiat Multipla of the phones" design. In fact bought just because of GrapheneOS. But I can't deny it being solid and doing it's job. People complain 'bout it's battery, but in my use-case survives 3 days without much problem (I call, text via Jabber, Whatsapp, rarely go on web as I find phones unintuitive for that)
Best owned? OnePlus 7T Pro, which I bought as auxiliary unit pretty recently. It's more of a toy than practical tool compared to Pixel (and LineageOS is pretty buggy), but I just bloodey love it's pop-up camera and hole-free screen. And I really enjoy using it, in spite of Android and it being over 16cm behemoth (And I'm more into compact (<15cm) phones if you ask)
This phone just feels unique, like OnePlus phones used to in general (Sadly they went downhill afterwards, nowadays they're not different from average Chinese phone). I used to have their 3T (My first phone with 3rd party Android, LineageOS 18.1 :> ) and 5, as well as set up a 5T and 6 for my grandparents. It lasts as long as Pixel
They are respectively called Soviet (As I find some tactics Google does resembling that of Soviets... Or okay, things that police states do in general. It's just Google-colored hammer and sickle looking comical) and Milo (After one hyperactive weirdo from some obscure show).
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